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ColecoVision

Side Trak

ColecoVision

ColecoVision

This fast-moving game puts you in control of a thundering locomotive. You must direct the locomotive down the track and pick up the passengers along the way. In doing so, you must avoid a deadly runaway train that is out to demolish your locomotive! This game is for any locomotive or model train ...

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Developer
Collectorvision Games

Released on
2012

Version
ColecoVision

Requirements
ColecoVision

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Description

This fast-moving game puts you in control of a thundering locomotive. You must direct the locomotive down the track and pick up the passengers along the way. In doing so, you must avoid a deadly runaway train that is out to demolish your locomotive! This game is for any locomotive or model train enthusiast. Instead of heading down to the hobby store you can take control of a locomotive right in your living room.

Can you stay on the track and score?

Side Trak

Overview & History

Released in 1983 by Coleco for the ColecoVision, Side Trak is a fascinating and often overlooked port of Exidy’s 1979 arcade sleeper hit. While contemporaries focused on space shooters and platformers, this title offered a delightfully frantic logistical challenge. Instead of saving the galaxy, players are tasked with managing a chaotic, crisscrossing railway network. You control a red engine that must navigate a multi-tiered track layout, collecting scattered boxcars while skillfully dodging persistent hazard cars that patrol the rails. It was one of the early attempts to translate the frantic puzzle-action of the late-70s arcade era into the burgeoning 8-bit home console market, showcasing the ColecoVision's impressive graphical capabilities with its vibrant, distinct track levels and smooth sprite handling.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

The core gameplay revolves around timing, spatial awareness, and strategic switching. As the engineer of the primary locomotive, you travel horizontally across a screen populated by parallel tracks. Your goal is to couple with waiting boxcars, which instantly lengthens your train. However, your maneuverability decreases proportionally as your train grows longer. Simultaneously, enemy and hazard cars speed across opposing tracks in alternating directions, forcing you to use strategically placed vertical switches to jump between tracks and avoid catastrophic head-on collisions. As you clear screens, the speed escalates, introducing complex track layouts and trickier AI patterns that demand split-second reflexes and flawless route planning.

Keyboard Controls

Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move the engine up, down, left, and right between tracks and along rails
Action Keys: Activate track switches and alter speed
Enter: Start / Pause